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Dave Grohl felt overwhelmed to be reunited with Courtney Love at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last week (ends13Apr14), calling the moment "beautiful". The former Nirvana drummer has endured a rocky relationship with Love, the widow of his late bandmate Kurt Cobain, in recent years and they have been embroiled in a number of high-profile spats.
However, they appeared to put the bad blood behind them when Nirvana were honoured at the ceremony in New York City as Love hugged Grohl on stage and made a heartfelt speech comparing the band to family.
Grohl has now revealed the meeting went better than expected, telling Rolling Stone magazine, "Early on in the evening I just tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and I just said, 'Hey.' She said, 'Hey.' Then we gave each other a big hug. I said, 'How are you?' She goes, 'Good, how are you?' I said, 'All right.' And she said, 'Let's do this. Let's rock this tonight.' And I said, 'Yes.' That was it."
He adds of Love's speech, "She's right. We're family, no matter what. And we all love each other, no matter what. It's a lot bigger than a paragraph or a picture. It's real. So it was a reunion, and we were there for Kurt. It was a beautiful night. It was good... It was a heavy night... It was a big deal to us, personally and emotionally."

Marvel Studios
Fox has just announced the cast of Josh Trank's upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, and things are looking a little left of center. Joining Michael B. Jordan's Johnny Storm will be Miles Teller as Reed Richards, Kate Mara as Sue Storm, and Jamie Bell as The Thing. And while some of these casting's aren't quite set in stone, this is increasingly looking like the final lineup for the film. Saying that the new movie is casting against type would be an understatement. The new cast is virtually unrecognizable compared to the 2005 version, and the internet is erupting in reactions from every inch of the emotional spectrum. From seething rage, to elation, and even mild confusion, The casting of Marvel's first family has people divided in earnest. Here are our thoughts on the casting choices.
MILES TELLERas Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
A24 via Everett Collection
How He Fits: He kind of doesn't. At all.
How He Deviates: There’s a loveable goofiness to Miles Teller, but we're not quite connecting the dots between him and Reed Richards just yet. He’s not quite nerdy enough, and he definitely doesn’t have a dignified scientist aura to him. We don’t see much of Reed Richards in Teller at all.
How He Compares to Ioan Gruffudd: Worse. Gruffudd was one of the few bright spots of the largely banal first film. He really looked the part of Reed Richards.
Public Consensus: The one phrase to sum up the twitter reactions would be a resounding "Uhhh….What?" People seem to be mostly just confused by the casting choice, and many are complaining that Teller is simply too young to play Reed. Twitter user @dylhorgan asled, "This week in bad superhero movie casting: How is Miles Teller even close to being old enough to play Reed Richards?"
Final Assessment: Teller, for our money, is the biggest question mark of the casting announcement. There isn’t anything about the actor that screams “Mr. Fantastic”, though he was obviously cast for a reason. I guess we’re going to have to wait and see on this one.
KATE MARAas Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman
Netflix
How She Fits: Physically, Mara seems to be a match for the Sue Storm in the comics, especially since she’s recently dyed her hair blonde. Personality-wise, she seems like a solid choice as well, since Sue is somewhat reserved and shy – Mara plays a lot of quieter characters. Between her ambitious reporter on House of Cards and her hacker/revolution-leader in Transcendence, Mara shouldn’t have any trouble portraying Sue’s genius intellect.
How She Deviates: Mara’s characters tend to be a lot darker than Sue Storm, who gives off a more innocent, all-American vibe, which could affect the way that Sue is written for this reboot.
How She Compares to Jessica Alba: Mara’s definitely a better choice than Alba, who, while not terrible, wasn’t given much to do other than run around and look pretty.
Public Consensus: Fan response to the casting has been overwhelmingly positive. To quote Twitter user @Roby_Aguilar: "OMG. OMG. OMG. MILES TELLER, MICHAEL B. JORDAN, JAMIE BELL &amp; KATE MARA IN FANTASTIC FOUR?!?!?!?!?! God is real. GOD. IS. REAL."
Final Assessment: Mara’s a good choice for Sue Storm. She’s a talented actress, and she doesn’t fit the “bombshell” constraints that female actresses in superhero films tend to get stuck in, which means she will hopefully get more to do onscreen than Alba did. And since it seems to have been the least outrage-stirring casting choice that the team behind this reboot has made, she also seems to be approved by the fans. She generally comes across darker and more serious than Sue is, though, and since we haven’t really seen her play particularly upbeat characters, that could keep her from meshing well with the rest of the cast
MICHAEL B. JORDANas Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
20th Century Fox Film via Everett Collection
How He Fits: Jordan has the natural charm and charisma to play a freewheeling ladies man, but he also has a daring quality to him that a character like Johnny Storm needs. He might not have the necessary physique quite yet, but a quick trip to the gym can fix that.
How He Deviates: The biggest deviation in all of the casting news, Michael B. Jordan is nlack whereas Johnny Storm has always been portrayed as a white man. Cue the Twitter riots.
How He Compares to Chris Evans: Better. Now don't get us wrong, Evans played a fine Johnny Storm. But over the past few years, Jordan has proven himself to be a monumental young talent. While Evans certainly had Johnny Storm's trademark wit in spades, Jordan might be able to mine the character's hidden depths while still cracking wise and getting the girls.
Public Consensus: Many have commented on Jordan’s race being an issue, but (optimistically!) an emerging tide of Twitter users are trumpeting the actor's talents, laying waste to the idiotic arguments that a black Human Torch is "sacrilege." Twitter user @ZachLNFS tweeted “Michael B. Jordan is the one bright spot in the Fantastic Four cast and, of course, the most derided. Good job, Fox. Good job, internet." Other’s are wondering how Kate Mara and Michael B. Jordan are going to play siblings. We're guessing adoption.
Final Assessment: The actor clearly has the goods to play a terrific Johnny Storm, despite what some of the seedier corners of the Twittersphere think about race in comic books. Ignorant tirades aside, he’s clearly the best actor of the bunch and a considerable step up from the previous Human Torch.
JAMIE BELLas Ben Grimm/The Thing
Summit Entertainment via Everett Collection
How He Fits: Once Ben Grimm becomes The Thing, he has a lot of trouble dealing with his new powers, which take a toll on him emotionally. Bell plays a lot of brooding characters, which means he would have no trouble portraying all of the inner turmoil that The Thing is experiencing.
How He Deviates: Ben and The Thing are huge, strong, muscular guys, whereas Bell is… not. This is less important after he turns into The Thing, but since we don’t know how much of the group’s origins the film will focus on, it might be difficult to believe that Bell spent his childhood protecting Teller from bullies. Ben’s also a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, while Bell tends to come across as serious and brooding.
How He Compares to Michael Chiklis: When it comes to giant orange space rock monsters, nobody beats Michael Chiklis.
Public Consensus: It’s pretty mixed. There are plenty of people who are excited about his casting, but many are concerned that’s he’s not built enough to play the role properly – for example, Twitter user @BCCrooky said they would "like to see Jamie bell, scrawny Jamie bell who played tinting, as Ben Grimm aka the thing."
Final Assessment: We probably would have swapped Bell and Teller’s roles, if we’re being honest. Bell just seems to work better as a serious, genius scientist, while Teller seems more likely to play his upbeat sidekick. However, Ben has a difficult time dealing with his transformation, which caused a lot of psychological trauma; Bell would definitely be able to play those aspects of the character really well. Since he’ll likely spend most of the film being CGIed into his rocky form, his acting ability is probably more important than his physical appearance in the end.

Chelsea Lauren/Getty
Important news for those of you who are still using the "you know what's cool?" joke and bemoaning The King's Speech besting The Social Network at the 2011 Oscars. Lionsgate recently acquired the rights to Nick Bilton's recounting of Facebook's cooler cousin's rocky founding, Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, and Betrayal and is looking to develop it into a series. White boy drama, ahoy!
And we just happen to have some white boys in mind. This project may be in a fledgling state, but if it's anything like its subject, it'll be out of the gate at full-speed before anyone's had the chance to really think about that "@reply" feature. Allow us to do our part by suggesting a few actors to play these coding frenemies.
Nicholas Hoult as Jack Dorsey
Warm Bodies star Hoult could sink his teeth into the part of demoted CEO Jack Dorsey, plagued by a speech impediment but not by low self-esteem. The book characterizes him as a narcissist who, though he had little techno know-how, falsely painted himself as the real brains behind the operation.
Michael Angarano as Evan Williams
Williams was the quiet, midwestern boy of the group whose anxiety and inaction cost the company millions of dollars. Sweet-faced Angarano could have us pitying Evan and feeling the same frustration his partners and investors did.
Josh Hutcherston as Biz Stone
Biz is the most rational of Twitter's creators, who stays above at least some of the fray. And who does America trust more than the guy who plays Peeta Mellark? Josh is our pick for this role.
Josh Dallas as Noah Glass
We'd like to see handsome Josh Dallas go a little rogue as the unstable Glass, the first of the four to be pushed out.
Jim Rash as Dick Costolo
Community's Dean can trade his Scarlett O'Hara costume for a sensible polo shirt and play Twitter's current CEO, whose maturity and experienced is credited with saving the company.
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Roc-A-Fella Records
This was, without a doubt, an excellent year for Hip-Hop music. Jay Z, Kanye West, and Timbaland (as a producer) all returned to a certain glory with their new projects. Artists like Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and A$AP Rocky became key players in the game. And lots of new artists generated positive buzz. Lots of magazines like Rolling Stone are counting down the best Hip-Hop albums of the year, but we're going to keep it simple with 5 definitive hip-hop tracks of 2013. Obviously, tons of great songs came out, but if we had to put 5 singles into a time capsule, these would be it!
Black Skinhead, Kanye West
People can hate on this guy all they want, but the lyrics, production, and impact of this song were amazing. And once it found its way to the trailer for Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street (perfectly appropriate, in part because of the line "I'm aware I'm a wolf/Soon as the moon hit"), it became that much more epic.
Started From The Bottom, Drake
To say that this song was "everywhere" would be the understatement of the year. Even Chris Brown -- who still has beef with Drake -- was spotted losing his mind to this in the club. Now whether or not Drake himself "started from the bottom" is debatable (well, okay, it's not true at all), but we'll let the whole thing slide if only so we can enjoy the song.
Feds Watching, 2 Chainz feat. Pharrell
Like it or not, 2 Chainz is one of the defining artists in hip-hop right now. And for people who had been supporting him since he was still Tity Boi (and one half of the group Playaz Circle) his latest album represented a return to his original style. "Feds Watching" had a dope beat and was (thankfully) lacking in some of the silliness that people had come to associate with Chainz. It was a good look for him.
Picasso Baby, Jay Z
When Jigga merged Hip-Hop with performance art (with the help of Marina Abramović), he showed that Hip-Hop already was performance art. "Picasso Baby" as a song, video, and short film became a movement that ultimately proved hip-hop is already in the realm of high art.
Control, Big Sean feat. Kendrick Lamar &amp; Jay Electronica
Although the entire world stopped spinning (seriously) as practically every, single rapper in existence responded to Kendrick Lamar's now-iconic, unforgettable verse (which was not, in fact, an actual diss), Big Sean and Jay Electronica both went in on this one. This was, quite easily, the most discussed song of the year, and with good reason. Next year, we'll have to see if Kendrick Lamar will remain King of the game.
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Warner Bros.
It often happens - you walk out of a movie and have forgotten the plot, the acting, who was actually IN the movie...but the music stays with you...and stays...and stays. You don't mind the songs taking up residence in your head and wind up buying the soundtrack, thus making it a good thing that you went to this bad flick. Here are some of the most mediocre movies with great soundtracks.
1. Purple Rain (1984)
Can't remember a thing about the movie, but "When Doves Cry" is still stuck in people's brain for decades. Prince's outfits here also gave Dave Chappelle infinite fodder for his comedy. The rock legend even used Chappelle dressed up as him for the cover of his latest single.
2. Singles (1992)
This soundtrack had such music legends like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden while the movie's biggest draw was a long-haired Matt Dillon. Somehow, I think the music people got it much better.
3. Rocky IV (1985)
Russian menace Ivan Drago couldn't break this soundtrack - it was packed with such great music from Survivor, Kenny Loggins, and of course...James Brown. No wonder Rocky Balboa was inspired to come back and beat him. Oops. Sorry, spoilers.
4. Batman Forever (1995)
Val Kilmer wasn't the best Bruce Wayne, portraying him as possibly the most bland billionaire/superhero in cinema history. He made Michael Keaton look caffeinated by comparison. Really big hit songs by U2 and Seal helped make the soundtrack memorable, though. Music videos for both tunes got really heavy rotation on MTV, back when music was the primary impetus behind the channel, not reality TV.
5. The Crow (1994)
This movie got notoriety with Brandon Lee's death during filming more than from being good. The soundtrack was not a tragedy, though. It rocked, though - with the Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure and Rage Against the Machine. While it did spawn a couple of sequels, people don't really remember the original.
6. Juice (1992)
This was an OK movie that had the late Tupac Shakur in it, but it had an all-star rap soundtrack, including Naughty By Nature, Eric B. and Rakim, EPMD and Big Daddy Kane. Decades from the movie's release, people are still listening to songs like "Uptown Anthem", but the movie languishes in history.
7. The Beach (2000)
This movie sank faster than the boat in Leo DiCaprio's previous one (some film called Titanic), but it was buoyed by a soundtrack that included dance/electronic movie gods Underworld and Leftfield.
8. American Graffiti (1973)
This is a decent film that some dude named Harrison Ford appeared in before he became known as Han Solo, but it had so many great oldie songs on the soundtrack that you felt like you were transported back to 1962.
9. Vanilla Sky (2001)
This was a forgettable Tom Cruise vehicle, which was rare at the time since everything he touched turned to gold at the time the movie came out. The film has some beautiful music, including Sigur Ros' "Svefn g Englar," so we can thank the movie for raising awareness of that awesome band, at least.
10. Threesome (1994)
This was NOT an adult film, but starred Lara Flynn Boyle, Adam Baldwin, and Josh Charles. The soundtrack had several great artists, including Duran Duran, U2, Bryan Ferry and Tears For Fears - which means they should have at least titled that "More than A Threesome."
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It's no overstatement to say that Martin Scorsese, whose short list of classics includes Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas, is the most celebrated American director that's currently living. Even less of an exaggeration is the fact that 2006's The Departed, the same film that he won him his first, and still only, Academy Award, is mediocre at best. Here's five films that should have easily earned Scorsese an Oscar.
WENN
Taxi Driver, 1976Although nominated for Best Picture, Scorsese was denied a directing nod for his stark depiction of a mentally troubled war vet turned unexpected hero. John G. Avildsen, director of Rocky, would win that year's award for Best Director.
Raging Bull, 1980Robert De Niro took home the Best Actor Oscar for his explosive portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta, while simultaneously earning some of the best reviews of his career. Scorsese, however, lost that year to Robert Redford, who made his directorial debut with the family drama, Ordinary People.
GoodFellas, 1990The very film that redefined the gangster drama was nominated for six Academy Awards, including nods for Best Picture and Best Director. However, the Kevin Costner-directed western, Dances with Wolves, would go on to win both categories.
Casino, 1995Although arguably a better film than Goodfellas, Scorsese's loose history of Las Vegas's crime-addled heyday netted only a single Oscar nod at that year's Academy Awards, which went to Sharon Stone. The film, however, ranks 5th in the total number of F-bombs dropped.
Bringing Out the Dead, 1999An overlooked classic in the Scorsese catalogue, and still one of Nicolas Cage's finest performances. It just happened to be released during probably the last great year for movies (see Eyes Wide Shut, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, Boys Don’t Cry, American Beauty, The Sixth Sense, etc.).
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Jim Carrey publicly announced that he has withdrawn his support from his upcoming film Kick-Ass 2, and will not be involved with its promotion. The actor, who portrays Colonel Stars &amp; Stripes, an ex-Mafia member turned masked vigilante, has decided that the violent nature of the superhero sequel conflicts with his standing sensitivity over tragedies like 2012's Sandy Hook shooting. Carrey tweeted over the weekend: "I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to others involved with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart."
Although the storyline's inclusion of a violent 11-year-old (Chloë Grace Moretz) has been met with controversy in the past, the nature of the film hadn't prevented the actor from signing onto the project in the first place, nor have any events since inspired any previous vocalization of conflict about his involvement. In March, Carrey opened up to MTV News about the relationship between the film's super-violence and his beliefs about gun control in the aftermath of the devastation in Connecticut:
"...my character is a guy that came from a violent background who is trying to turn it around and he uses a gun with no bullets in it. These are things I am considering now because I just feel like we don't cause the problem, but we don't help it much either. So, I am becoming more conscious of that. And I made Kick-Ass before all the things, the unfortunate shootings happened and stuff happened, and so that's kind of a little interesting blast from the past almost. But it's just going to be a great movie but I'm being careful with choices."
Mark Millar, the writer and creator of the Kick-Ass comic book series as well as the executive producer for the two films, is inevitably astonished about the comedian's sudden transition from big fan to disapproving criticizer. In a statement posted on Millar World a few hours after Carrey's announcement, Millar replies:
"First off, I love Jim Carrey. When producer Matthew Vaughn and director Jeff Wadlow called me up and suggested we do a conference call with him to talk about the sequel to the 2010 original I was genuinely excited. Like you, I love Eternal Sunshine, Man on the Moon and The Truman Show. Carrey is an actor like no other, an unpredictable force of nature who brings a layered warmth and humanity to his work as well as that unstoppable energy he's always been renowned for. He had lunch with Matthew around the time of the first movie and dug it so much he appeared that night on Conan O'Brien DRESSED as Kick-Ass, singing a duet with Conan dressed as Superman. Vaughn and I made a mental note to work with this guy as soon as possible as we're both huge admirers.
Cut to almost three years later and I'm sitting in a screening room in London watching what I think is one of Carrey's best-ever performances. I'd seen Kick-Ass 2 in many forms, but this was the absolute final cut complete with opening titles, music and a terrific post-credit sequence you're all going to love. I couldn't be happier with this picture. It's as good as the original and in many ways BIGGER as it expands upon the universe and really takes things to the next level. There are a lot of stand-outs in the sequel, every actor really firing on full cylinders and an amazing script that moves like a rocket. But Carrey in particular is magnificent. He's never done anything like this before and even from the trailer, with his masked dog sidekick specially trained to munch criminal balls, you can see that something really fun and special is happening here. Colonel Stars and Stripes is so charismatic and all his scenes are up there with Nic Cage's amazing turn as Big Daddy in the original... which made it all the more surprising when Jim announced tonight that the gun-violence in Kick-Ass 2 has made him withdraw his support from the picture.
As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I'm baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn't in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us HIT-GIRL was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much. My books are very hardcore, but the movies are adapted for a more mainstream audience and if you loved the tone of the first picture you're going to eat this up with a big, giant spoon. Like Jim, I'm horrified by real-life violence (even though I'm Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn't a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorcese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-Wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it's the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim's character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place.
Ultimately, this is his decision, but I've never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life. Our job as storytellers is to entertain and our toolbox can't be sabotaged by curtailing the use of guns in an action-movie. Imagine a John Wayne picture where he wasn't packing or a Rocky movie where Stallone wasn't punching someone repeatedly in the face. Our audience is smart enough to know they're all pretending and we should instead just sit back and enjoy the serotonin release of seeing bad guys meeting bad ends as much as we enjoyed seeing the Death Star exploding. The action in Kick-Ass 2 is like nothing you've ever seen before. The humour, the characters, the heart and the set-pieces are all things we're very proud of and the only warning I'd really include is that it's almost TOO EXCITING. Kick-Ass 2 is fictional fun so let's focus our ire instead of the real-life violence going on in the world like the war in Afghanistan, the alarming tension in Syria right now and the fact that Superman just snapped a guy's fucking neck.
Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider for all the above points. You're amazing in this insanely fun picture and I'm very proud of what Jeff, Matthew and all the team have done here."
It seems like Carrey's sudden change of heart is a reflection of his dual personalities in Me, Myself &amp; Irene. Regardless of how he's feeling, Kick-Ass 2 will fire into theatres on August 16, with or without the star's support.
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At the head of just about every television buff's Top 10 list is the modern classic the Sopranos — a pioneer for dramatic television and a creative masterpiece in its own right. David Chase's imaginative, gripping series boasted ambitious direction, compelling writing, and some of the best acting the small screen has ever seen. Playing the program's lead character Tony Soprano, actor James Gandolfini was the show's emotional rock, providing periodic shocks, laughs, and tears for all engaged audiences. While all six season of The Sopranos were stocked with gold, we've pulled out some of Tony's most memorable, resonating moments. (Obviously, spoilers abound.)
TONY AND CARMELAThere was no short supply of Soprano family face-offs, with Carmela (Edie Falco) proving a worthy adversary for her gangster husband. Here's one head-to-head that stands out in particular, diving deep into the couple's rocky history, and the heartrending questions of "what might have been":
TONY AND DR. MELFIWhile Dr. Melfi's progress with her No. 1 patient can be considered debatable at best, we definitely caught glimpses throughout the series of Tony revealing the torment inside him. This especially biting scene has Tony resenting himself for passing on the misery that he carries with him to his equally narcissistic and depressive son, Anthony Jr.:
TONY'S DREAMSOne of the cornerstones of The Sopranos is its proclivity for trippy, existentialistic, highly symbolic dream sequences. One of the first entries in this long line of Freudian field days lands Tony on the docks, stewing in guilt over the murder of his best friend:
TONY AND HIS MOTHERAnd now, the true backbone of the show: Tony's relationship with his mother, who has played a spector villainous reigning supreme over her son's psyche since his childhood. As an ailing Livia is wheeled into a hospital emergency room, Tony channels all of the rage, resentment, and sorrow he has felt towards his mother, lashing out at her for what might well be his final chance, never truly earning the revenge he so desperately craves:
TONY aND PAULIEOne of the most fascinating characters in the Sopranos universe is, invariably, Paulie Walnuts. A manchild so deeply embedded in his own psychoses that he makes the sociopaths around him look like sane, upstanding citizens. In looking at Paulie, Tony has the opportunity to view his entire lifestyle (and himself) with nothing but contempt. As such, the harsh words Tony tosses at his friend and the consideration to take his life in the below clip could be seen as the big man's self-loathing running rampant:
TONY DOES PEYOTEFollowing the decision to take the life of his cousin and protegée Christopher, Tony deals with some serious emotional backlash. Gandolfini's performance as a peyote-addled Tony on a trip to the deserts of Las Vegas rings as some of the most haunting material in the show's run:
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Noah Emmerich has got to be one of the hardest working character actors around. He caught audiences' attention in 1996 with his portrayal of Michael "Mo" Morris in the Ted Demme relationship dramedy Beautiful Girls, alongside Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Mira Sorvino, Timothy Hutton and a pre-teen Natalie Portman. Many years (and film and TV appearances) later, he's reunited with Portman on the Western Jane Got a Gun. That production got off to a rocky start when director Lynne Ramsay pulled out right before shooting began. Then Bradley Cooper left the film due to scheduling conflicts. Blogs and websites were abuzz, speculating about the fate of the film. But director Gavin O'Connor (Fifty Dead Men Walking, Warrior) is now at the helm, and the film has commenced shooting in New Mexico.
Emmerich was able to take on Jane Got A Gunwhile his critically acclaimed FX show The Americans was on hiatus. It's a Cold War-era spy drama about a couple working undercover for the KGB. Emmerich plays FBI agent Stan Beeman while Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys play his neighbors Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, two Soviet spies fronting as an ordinary American suburban couple. Emmerich brings a depth and originality to Stan that distinguishes him from the run-of-the-mill, tough-talking FBI agents we’re used to seeing on screen.
We talked to Emmerich while he was in New Mexico for Jane Got A Gun. The actor mused about Stan's demons, the power of saying yes, and why The Americans isn’t just another spy drama.
SSN: What attracted you to the role of Stan in The Americans?NE: My first thought was that I wasn't interested in playing an FBI agent, and I didn't want to do it. It felt similar to other roles I had played, and I didn't want to spend the next five or six years with a badge and a gun. It smelled procedural to me.
SSN: What made you change your mind?NE: Gavin O'Connor is a good friend of mine, and we had lunch. He said he was going to direct this pilot and that I would be crazy not to do it. So I met with Joe Weisberg (creator and executive producer of The Americans) and questioned him about his ambitions and about who Stan was, and I turned around and really saw this as an opportunity. It seems like the more I live, the more I realize that saying yes is almost never a mistake. If you say no, it might feel safe, but then you end up going nowhere.
SSN: What did Joe say that changed your mind?NE: Joe talked to me about the character and I started to see him as a human being, and how the world around these people affects them. I realized it was a character-driven piece in the guise of a spy thriller. With Stan, there are a lot of different realms to play in: there's his relationship with his son, his wife, the new neighbors. There's lots of subtlety and nuances and dynamics to explore.
SSN: How would you describe Stan?NE: Stan is a tortured character. He's estranged from his family since he was so deep undercover. He's very lonely and isolated, but he's dedicated to serving his country, and he hasn't processed the effects of the time he's spent undercover, and he's thrust into this new spy game. He's good at his job, but it's destructive to his sense of self. Trust is a very rare commodity, and he really gets beat up during the first season and that takes a toll.
SSN: When you signed on, did you have a sense of where the character and the story were headed? It must be very different playing a character on a show that’s constantly developing as opposed to a feature where you usually have the entire script and trajectory from the get-go.NE: I had a sense of the arc of the character and a sense of where we were headed, but in incremental steps. The things I don’t know can be surprising. It's fertile ground for exploring this character. Stan’s commitment to his job is a double-edged sword. I don’t know how people do these jobs in real life. It's a great asset, but there's a cost and it affects his personal life.
SSN: Can you talk about working with the other cast members, Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell and Annet Mahendru, who plays Nina, the Russian informant who has an affair with Stan?NE: His relationship with Nina is very loaded and nuanced, and that's part of the fun of the job. I work with [Keri and Matthew] very rarely because we're almost in two parallel universes. I think I'm the most free atom of the cast members because I swing back and forth between the different worlds. It's a real layer cake of storylines.
SSN: The Americans started getting great reviews early on. Do you pay attention to what people are saying about the show while you're in production?NE: Not during production, it's quite a distraction. With television, you're getting responses while you're in production as opposed to a feature. It's one of the trickier things to resolve, and so early on in the first season, I just stopped looking. It's dangerous to me to be hearing those voices — dangerous and not at all constructive. Since we finished the first season, I have seen more responses and you get a sense of how people are responding, which I like.
SSN: You're in production on Gavin O'Connor’s western Jane Got A Gun with Natalie Portman. There has been a lot of chatter about the film with director Lynne Ramsay departing right before shooting and then Bradley Cooper having to pull out. How’s the shoot going?NE: It's going great. We have a very special movie despite all the chaos, and we're having a lot of fun. We're in New Mexico shooting revolvers and riding horses.
SSN: Do you jump right back into filming season two of The Americans after the film wraps, or do you get a little time off?NE: Thankfully, I'll have time to re-engage with myself because it's important to recharge. Before we started filming, I had one day off between the show and the film. I'm looking forward to just being Noah for a little bit.
You’ll have to wait a few months to see where season two takes Stan and the rest of the characters in The Americans. Judging from Emmerich's performance thus far, we're betting it will be even more captivating and surprising than ever.
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